Free Certified Backstage Associate (CBA) Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Certified Backstage Associate (CBA) practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1Which command creates a new standalone Backstage application using the official application generator?

   1. A. npx @backstage/create-app@latest
   2. B. npx @backstage/cli package build
   3. C. npx @backstage/cli package start
   4. D. npx @backstage/cli repo test

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The installation guide specifies "npx @backstage/create-app@latest" under creating the application. The other commands operate on existing packages or tests rather than generate the application.

   Reference: Standalone Installation — Creating and running a Backstage application

2. 2Which description best identifies the purpose of the Backstage framework?

   1. A. A managed runtime for scheduling application containers
   2. B. An open source framework for building developer portals
   3. C. A package registry for distributing compiled JavaScript
   4. D. A hosted source-control service for application repositories

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The overview says: "Backstage is an open source framework for building developer" followed by "portals." It integrates tooling into a developer portal rather than acting as a container scheduler, registry, or source-control service.

   Reference: What is Backstage? — What is Backstage?

3. 3What information is the Backstage Software Catalog primarily designed to centralize across an organization's software ecosystem?

   1. A. Container scheduling and node resource allocation
   2. B. Ownership and metadata for software assets
   3. C. Package download caches and compiled application binaries
   4. D. Live application transactions and database query results

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The overview describes a centralized system that keeps track of "ownership and metadata for all the software in your ecosystem (services," including websites, libraries, and data pipelines. Catalog inventory and ownership differ from runtime orchestration, artifact storage, or transactional data.

   Reference: Backstage Software Catalog — What is a Software Catalog?

4. 4In Backstage's plugin architecture, where does a standalone plugin such as the documented static Tech Radar example execute?

   1. A. In a backend Node.js process only
   2. B. In both a browser and a required plugin-specific server
   3. C. In an external SaaS service only
   4. D. Entirely in the browser

   Answer: D

   Explanation: The architecture guide states: "Standalone plugins run entirely in the browser." The static Tech Radar example renders hard-coded information without API requests to other services, so it does not require its own service backend.

   Reference: Architecture overview — Plugin architecture — Standalone plugins

5. 5In a newly generated standalone Backstage application, what does running yarn start from the application root start?

   1. A. The backend alone, with the frontend precompiled
   2. B. Both frontend and backend as separate processes
   3. C. The frontend alone, with an external backend required
   4. D. A production container containing both services

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The guide states: "The yarn start command will run both the frontend and backend as separate processes (named [0] and [1]) in the same window." It starts the local development processes.

   Reference: Standalone Installation — Creating and running a Backstage application

6. 6Which built-in Backstage feature helps create new projects from standardized code skeletons and publish them to a location such as GitHub?

   1. A. Software Catalog
   2. B. TechDocs
   3. C. Software Templates
   4. D. Search

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The architecture overview states: "Software Templates - A tool to help you create components inside Backstage. A template can load skeletons of code, include some variables, and then publish the template to a location, such as GitHub." The question concerns project creation rather than inventory, documentation, or information retrieval.

   Reference: Architecture overview — Frontend building blocks — Frontend plugins

7. 7How does organizing infrastructure tools around catalog entities help users of a Backstage developer portal?

   1. A. It replaces tool-specific workflows with editing their catalog metadata
   2. B. It makes the catalog a directory of external UIs that must be opened separately
   3. C. It brings tool views around entities into one portal, reducing interface switching
   4. D. It requires a separate developer portal for each infrastructure tool

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The catalog guide states: "The software catalog is a great way to organize the infrastructure tools you use to manage the software. This is how Backstage creates one developer portal for all your tools." Its entity-centered integration reduces switching among infrastructure interfaces; it does not replace tool workflows with metadata or require separate UIs or portals for every tool.

   Reference: Backstage Software Catalog — Integrated tooling through plugins

8. 8What distinguishes a third-party backend plugin from a service backend plugin in Backstage's documented architectural classification?

   1. A. Its backing service is hosted outside the adopting company's ecosystem
   2. B. Its frontend executes on the external service instead of in the Backstage app
   3. C. Its backing service is hosted inside the adopting company's ecosystem
   4. D. It runs without a backing service and uses only data bundled in the browser

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The architecture overview states: "The main difference is that the service which backs the plugin is hosted outside of the ecosystem of the company hosting Backstage." The frontend still integrates into the Backstage app. An internally hosted backing service corresponds to the service-backend form, while browser-only bundled data corresponds to the standalone form.

   Reference: Architecture overview — Plugin architecture — Third-party backend plugins

9. 9A standalone Backstage app has compiled successfully, but its browser window did not open. Which default URL should the developer open to view the frontend?

   1. A. http://localhost:7007
   2. B. http://localhost:8080
   3. C. http://localhost:3000
   4. D. http://localhost:5432

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The guide says: "When you see the message Rspack compiled successfully, you can navigate directly to http://localhost:3000 to see your Backstage app." This is the default frontend URL for the documented standalone setup.

   Reference: Standalone Installation — Browser window didn't open with yarn start

10. 10Which Backstage feature supports creating, maintaining, finding, and using technical documentation with a docs-like-code approach?

    1. A. Software Templates
    2. B. Kubernetes
    3. C. Software Catalog
    4. D. TechDocs

    Answer: D

    Explanation: The overview names "Backstage TechDocs for making it easy to" and explains that it helps "create, maintain, find, and use technical documentation". TechDocs is the documentation feature; the other features address scaffolding, service health, or metadata.

    Reference: What is Backstage? — What is Backstage? — Out of the box